The horrific crime shocked a nation. Three young boys, cub scouts, were tied up, murdered and their naked bodies dumped in a drainage ditch.

As a Deep South community bayed for justice, attention focused on a group of misfit teenagers, heavy metal fans accused of killing the children in a Satanic ritual. The case became a sensation at a time when a 'Satanic panic' over cults was gripping 1990s America. All three were found guilty. Jason Baldwin, then 16, and Jessie Misskelley, 17, got life sentences. Damien Echols, 18, was put on death row, where he remains.

Now evidence, including DNA samples, has emerged to suggest the real killers are still at large and that three innocent men have been behind bars for almost 15 years. 'No reasonable juror would convict... knowing what we know today,' said defence lawyer Dennis Riordan.

The facts were simple enough. The victims - Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and James Moore - were last seen riding their bikes on 5 May, 1993. Their bodies, tied with shoelaces, were discovered a day later near the Arkansas town of West Memphis, close to the Mississippi river. They were only a few miles from home. Police were shocked by the terrible knife wounds and signs of torture and concluded that some sort of cult ritual had occurred. Attention quickly focused on the town misfits. Under pressure, Misskelley confessed to the killings and all three were found guilty.

Now lawyers for Echols have lodged new evidence seeking to prove his innocence. The case against the West Memphis Three appears to have been more about rushed police work and hyped-up paranoia over non-existent Satanism than evidence. The suspects were just unfortunate to be social outcasts and to like rock music.

I saw the documentary film about the murders and watched Damien Echols admiring himself in a handmirror while waiting for the verdict. While hardly admissible as evidence, that was enough to put me in the “guilty” camp.

5
posted on 11/04/2007 1:22:47 PM PST
by denydenydeny
(Expel the priest and you don't inaugurate the age of reason, you get the witch doctor--Paul Johnson)

There indeed was a frenzy of “satanic” prosecutions around that time - led by a bunch of unqualified “satanism” experts (usually fundivangelist types) that were able to really control/influence local prosecutors.

There was one murder case in Texas, I believe, where they ended up arresting half the prominent citizens in town on fantastical satanic cult charges before things were finally controlled.

It's more likely they were killed by the folks belonging to the DNA who knew the victims than these random kids. You might be able to explain away the stepdad's DNA entangled in the knot but when you link his alibi to the crime scene as well, something's very wrong with this case.

Justice is blind, not perfect. If fatal errors of judgment were made, they should be corrected and the right parties brought to justice.

Marilyn Manson and Eddie Vedder of the band Pearl Jam have joined the campaign to overturn the verdicts. A film is also being made about the case. Called Devil's Knot, it is being co-produced by Clark Peterson, who made Monster, starring Charlize Theron.

That evidence is good enough for me. Hang'm. If Hollyweird is on somebody's side, then they must be guilty.

There indeed was a frenzy of satanic prosecutions around that time - led by a bunch of unqualified satanism experts (usually fundivangelist types) that were able to really control/influence local prosecutors.

Hopefully this isn't a case of injustice done to some kids who happened to like dressing up like Robert Smith from The Cure. I vaguely remember seeing a documentary about this case from a few years ago that cast a lot of suspicion on the step-father of one victim.

A couple of things have always bugged me about this case. Jesse Miskelly came from a rough family and has a IQ that borders on mental retardation. The only one of the three involved with the Wiccan relgion was Damien Echols.

If I remember the case correctly, the step father was not a police officer. At least not at the time. I've always thought that someone else was involved in the case (step father seemed suspicious) besides these three guys.

Damien Echols, however, is more than just a little weird. He also seemed to enjoy the attention--until he got to prison and became someone's b*tch. He's complained many times about prison rape.

I remember the mass of "satanic" killings in the 1980s. Much like the "child molestation at day care centers" they were driven by scumbag journalists and blood thirsty morons among the masses without any regard for truth.

So, tell me, is there ANYONE out there who actually believes there was "satanism running amuck" in the 1980s? Did you REALLY believe that Ozzy and Rob Halford were telling good American kids to worship the devil and kill their classmates?

24
posted on 11/04/2007 7:54:55 PM PST
by Clemenza
(Rudy Giuliani, like Pesto and Seattle, belongs in the scrap heap of '90s Culture)

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